The Path of the Kaze
by OniRudra37
Summary: The wind is an odd thing, it can change by the strongest of Forces, or the gentlest of proddings." Naruto is taken away from Konoha at a young age by a unusual circumsatnce. Watch as his new path is forged on death and pain. NarutoxHinata Hiatus temporary


**An OniRudra Production, **

**In correlation with Bunny-chan's excellence, presents to you:**

**"The Path of the Kaze."**

**I own nothing, except in the alternate universes where I OWN ALL!!!**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, reading a report from his contingent of Anbu around the border. There was a great decrease in enemy ninja sneaking into the land of fire recently. Normally this would be cause of celebration, unfortunately other villages didn't know what was happening to their ninja either, and this was a call for alarm.

The sandaime sighed as he pulled his pipe from his mouth and refilling it of its now empty contents. He turned around and looked out the great windows to the village, watching something come closer on the horizons.

Great black storm clouds, heavy with rain, and alive with strands of great white lightning. He could hear its roars from here, over three miles away. He frowned as he looked at the storm which seemed to be growing, this would not do well for the village.

"Anbu!" at his call two Anbu appeared out of thin air, and went to one knee before him.

"Hai Hokage-sama?"

"Make note for all the villagers to stay indoors, I fear that this coming storm may be the worst disaster ever seen in this country, perhaps even worse to the Kyuubi."

Both of the Anbu shared a look as they heard the Sandaime's words, could a natural storm really be worse then the almighty fox demon? They did not wish to find out as they both vanished.

'_I pray to Kami that whatever happens, we do not pay to dearly for it.' _The old Kage thought as he saw a group of Anbu moving through the village alerting the villagers on his orders.

Seven year old Naruto Uzumaki was limping towards the Hokage monument. He had a hard day, late for school got him detention. Then went to find some food, only to be caught by an old woman while he was using her backyard to get to the market, she beat him with her cane, before calling Anbu, who dropped him off at his apartment again. He then decided to go see some of the ninjas spar. He arrived at the training ground only for a group of angry chunnins, who had already had a harder day due to their sensei's training, beat him up with taijutsu, and then use him for target practice. The reason he was limping was due to two kunai that rested in the muscles of his left leg, too painful for him to even think about removing, after the beating he decided he would go and talk to the greatest men he knew of.

The Hokages, those were the gods of men. They were the mighty shield and swords of the village in times of crisis. The mountain was carved into each of the four of theirs likenesses. Shodaime: the creator of the village along with his brother, the Nidaime, and a master of wood jutsus. Nidaime: brother to the first and master of water jutsus due to his chakra affinity and control of water. Armed with his legendary Raijin he single handedly put a stop to the uprisings at Mt. Raekoyouku. Sandaime: His Jiji, teacher of the legendary sannin team, Master of bojutsu and the monkey summon contract, famous for his strategies on the Third Great Ninja War. Yondaime: Yellow Flash of Konoha, apprentice to the toad sannin Jiraiya. Seal expert and the defeater of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. All of them were legendary men, all of them widely respected, and so Naruto would sit on their heads to watch the sunsets, thinking that in the future it would be fitting, as he himself would be the greatest of all Kages.

Naruto reached his destination and sat on his Jiji's head, watching as the stone began to moisten around him, and he was being peppered by stinging rain. He wondered why it would be raining in the middle of the spring.

Looking up he saw the dark clouds, and the thunderous lightning that held mighty power above him. He whimpered as he could feel strong winds capable of sending him sliding from side to side on the now wet stone. Naruto pulled himself up and tried to climb off of the heads, only to slip and fall on is injured leg.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" the pain from the kunai being pressed deeper into his leg was burning with intensity as he pulled himself onto his opposite leg and went to the top, cradling his now stinging leg.

He didn't know what to do; he had been outside during rain before but nothing of this level of danger. '_I have to get to Jiji, he will help me.'_

Naruto reached the top only for a blast of lightning to strike the mountain a little ahead of him and he stepped back, his eyes beginning to tear. He didn't want to die therewas so much of his life he still wanted to do. He began to hobble faster away till he felt a great pull behind him, pulling his small malnourished body back.

Looking over his shoulder he gasped. A tornado was in the center of the village, pulling him off the mountain. He tried to find something to grasp on the stone path but found nothing. He began to claw at the stone, breaking his fingernails and causing them to pour blood s he tried fruitlessly to escape the pull of the Tornado. He couldn't help himself as the storm whipped him right off the ground and into the air. Its thunderous sounds scaring the boy as he went hurling through the violently shifting spiraling titan of nature's power.

Naruto cried out as a flying tree limb struck his leg and caught itself on his bleeding wound, the pain was worse then hen he jarred it a few moments ago. He could begin to feel light headed as his body began to waver. He tried to remember something to keep his mind off of the pain by remembering some of the stories his Jiji had told him when he was a young boy, before putting him to bed.

He scrunched his eyes and tried to recollect anything that could help him ignore the pain. He didn't succeed as he opened his eyes and saw full size trees flying around him as well. He tried to throw himself away from them but it was fruitless. He hit the air around him with unnatural force, feeling bones break under the pressure of the storming winds. He didn't know what to think as the last thing he saw was a broken cart's wheel fly through the buffeting wind and strike him on the head with ridiculous strength. He remembered no more as his body stopped resisting with the loss of consciousness, and he spun through the air like a spinning ball. Not knowing anything about what might happen.

Sarutobi walked out of his home, looking at the destruction the unnatural storm had caused. Buildings had crumbled, streets were in ruin, and trees were uprooted and thrown across the village. He looked to his house to see his very impressive collection of bonsai trees lying around his porch in disarray. He frowned, as he saw people getting out of their houses and looked towards the walls of the village where the storm had entered.

The wall was destroyed in a section, most likely where the brunt of the storm hit it. He could see ninjas under his command moving through the village looking for people who needed aid. He decided his place was at the tower, after he made sure his family was alright. So turning back into the house he went to check on the remaining Sarutobi Clan, never wondering about a seven year old boy who was no longer in the village.

The Akimichi clan was moving through the village with members of the Hyuuga, in their giant forms they could lift rubble off of any person who may be trapped underneath and seen by the Hyuuga's all powerful doujutsu. The found many people under the rubble, protected by having been hiding in some form of shelter.

One group of Hyuuga branch members and Akimichis found a sleeping Nara who had apparently taken refuge in a warehouse that held and distributed futons. The man was incredibly surprised as he woke up and looked around outside the warehouse, asking if he slept through an invasion, or one wild party.

The Inuzukas were checked on by the Aburames, which upon finding that they were safe and sound went to check on other of village's major clans. They sent in reports that everyone was fine, which relieved the old Kage greatly. He began to write down orders for people to work on clearing the streets, while others would help and see if anyone was missing. He sent these orders out via his secretary and sat down at his desk as he smoked his pipe.

'_Thank Kami no one was truly hurt, however judging by this report the Hyuugas have turned in I will have a very sad blonde boy when he learned Ichirakus went to pieces as well._'

Sarutobi shuddered at the thought of the boy upset over his favorite eatery being destroyed, till another chunnin came in with a report of the street on the southeast sector only to read that his apartment complex had been torn down and burned by a gas explosion, everyone except for Naruto was accounted for, but there was a body found in the back alley behind the complex, burned beyond any recognition. Sarutobi felt a great lump in is throat as he assumed that this was naruto, until the people told him it was the body of a grown man and not a young boy he let out a sigh. He would have to send some one to look for the boy after they finished the initial sweep of the village.

'_Naruto please be alright, if something happened to you I could never forgive myself for what your father asked of me._' The Shadow thought as he completed filling out papers and writing down things that would be needed for repairing the village's infrastructure.

**On the coast of Land of Glades…**

An old man walked down the beach, looking through the havoc that the last great storm had left. Trees, stones, trash, a very wide assortment of things lay on the beach. He had taken cover in the caves when the storm had passed; waiting two hours till it lost steam and died.

He was dressed quite oddly for people of this region. Normally people wore light clothes, as the great trees blocked out the sun and left it quite comfortably. He instead of the normal sandals of the region was bare foot, walking over broken glass and trees that would hurt a normal person's feet. He wore baggy pants with all sorts of different messenger bags hanging from him, some the size of a young lady's purse, some large enough to carry tomes from the different temples of the elemental nations. He wore a normal yellow shirt, with a great brown hooded coat over it. In his hands was a gnarled cane of sandalwood. He walked steadily for someone who used the cane for every step; he even hopped over some things quite surely.

He kept up his pacing as his great sunhat blocked out any light to glare in his eyes. His long gray and white beard reached below his pectoral muscles. His hair was pure white, not counting the dirt and leaves mixed in, and went past his shoulder blades. He hopped over a split boulder, and looked around.

There was a hand sticking out of the sand? He walked over and poked his cane deep into the sand, feeling it connect with something. He leaned down and brushed off some of the sand to reveal……… one bare ass cheek?

He pondered this as he went the opposite way and brushed away more sand till he found a head. It was a boy he guessed, odd marks on the cheeks, bleeding forehead, and a full head of blonde hair. He brushed more sand off the boy and put his head to his chest.

'_Yep laddy's got himself a heartbeat, though he won't have much longer if the damned crabs get to him. Oh well, I guess I should take him with me, after all can't leave him like this for any bandits to find him, they will take whatever he has off of him, besides I probably got some stuff he can wear back at the cave, if he wakes up._'

The man sighed as he grabbed the unconscious blonde by the waistband of his britches and heaved him out of the sand, only for the band to rip and him to plummet stomach first back onto the hard sand.

The man winced as his face hit the sand head on, but the boy just snored away, oblivious to his pain. The man gave a chuckle and poked the kid with his cane. The kid snored away and brought himself to lie on his side.

The man sweat dropped as he picked the boy up and threw him over his shoulder. Kid weighed less than one of his messenger bags, weird. He walked off with the kid on his shoulder, giving a finger to the crabs, who in return clicked their claws angrily back at him. He smiled beneath his hat and waltzed off to his cave, singing a tune along the way.

**Leaf Village council chambers, several hours later…**

Sarutobi sat at the head of the council, listening to their continuing arguments about mission details. Half of them believed that they should put everyone bellow special chunnin to help the village, while the others take missions to keep a steady flow of income into the village.

The other half believed that they should keep all of their ninjas in the village, after all this was almost close to the damage the Kyuubi had done, and it took them a year to recover from that. The council was completely split over its decision on the matter.

Sarutobi groaned as he thought of all the things that had happened since earlier today: Anbu shifts extended, masons and architects hired to repair the crumbling village, and a very irate ruler of the land of fire telling them that they should have been more careful in the first place.

This was becoming ridiculous, how the hell was he supposed to fix something with these fools in charge honestly it was like letting a group of drunken villagers run amok in the room for a few hours.

He looked out the window and up at the stars that had become visible during their long meeting.

'_Minato if I ever see you in the after life, you had better pray that Kushina is there to protect you from the beating of your afterlife._' He sighed as one of the ninjas in the council raised their voice and new arguing began.

**Cave off the coast of the Land of glades…**

Naruto opened his eyes as he groaned in pain. He couldn't feel the pain from before, so he looked around, as if it would appear suddenly and hit him full force. He didn't know where he was, more importantly who he was, all he knew is what he saw around him and tried to pierce things together. He noticed the cave he was in was bare except for the few minimum essentials.

There was a bedroll he laid on, a fireplace in the center of the cave. A large amount of odd and unusual objects in the back, as if an army lived in the cave if the material was any judge to the number of patrons. He tried to speak only to get nothing from his dry and cracked throat.

He looked around the cave and saw three earthware mugs lying beside him filled with what looked like water. He grabbed the first one and downed it, then the next, and the last with the same speed before slowing when there was less than half left. He put it down and looked down at his leg.

The knives were gone, and his leg was bandaged, very well. He moved it to find that it was very tender, but was in fine condition considering it was staked earlier.

He pulled himself up as he headed for the entrance, looking up at the stars that pierced the sky, never had he seen a sight like this. In the village the artificial lights dulled the view of the sky and made it near impossible to see the stars very well, but here they were like a lost friend to those who had never seen their brilliance. Naruto didn't know how he knew anything about a village, he didn't remember anything about one, and maybe it was just an instinctual form of knowing. He shrugged at the violently stirring thoughts that moved in his head like a storm, yes a storm was an appropriate way to describe it. He sipped his water as a voice permeated the darkness like a blade of cold steel.

"So you are awake, good to know you are feeling alright young lad." He turned to see a very wrinkled old man looking at him with a smile; he smiled back, after all the man looked as if he had helped him.

"Sir, who are you, where am? Who am I?" the blonde asked as he sat down across from the man, taking a great interest in the fishing pole behind him, as it quivered and wiggled from its perch between two great stones.

"Well lad I am Pasanishia' kiaesa, but you can just call me Pa. You are at my summer home in the Land of Glades. As for who you are, all I know is that your fist name is Naruto, it was written on the inside of your shirt that was in tatters when I found you. I changed you, fed you, and took care of your injuries. You have been asleep since I found you a few days ago."

Naruto frowned as he pulled up his knees and rested his chin on them; this man only knew his name and apparently nothing else. Naruto didn't know how he knew the man was telling the truth, but in his gut he knew.

'_So my past is a mystery to everyone and myself, what should I do? I don't know anything except some things that I didn't even think I knew._'

Pa looked at the boy with a sad smile, the boy reminded him of his dead grandson, and he had died in a farming raid along with his daughter and her husband. He had pulled himself away after that, and retreated into the wilderness, becoming a hermit and a true jack of all trades. This boy didn't know who he was and more than likely didn't have an idea of how to get around the mountains that surrounded this land, he would not survive without a guardian, and an old man needed some more company than just the friends of the forest.

"Naruto do you know where your home is?" The boy shook his head negative as he looked out to the great sea to his left. Pa nodded as he walked over and held out his hand with a smile.

"Well then why don't you stay with me? I will teach you to take care of yourself, and you can have the time to see if any of your memories return, after all it isn't like you will find another town for miles." The blonde nodded as he took the old man's iron grip and was pulled up and into the cave, where the man's dinner of soup and freshly baked sweet bread was wafting through the air.

The two ate all of the food that Pa had prepared. This was not very astonishing as the man barely made enough for two people. But Naruto found the cooking delicious, and was glad that the man had shared with him. Pa told him some stories over dinner, of beautiful Princesses in far away lands, great ninjas that wielded terrible magics, and of fascinating beasts that roamed the lands of the nations.

Naruto listened in great astonishment and wonder as the stories filled into his newly wiped memory, as the pair sat on the stone ledge outside of the cave, they looked to the stars. Naruto was happy with his full belly, and the calming fragrance that the old man's pipe gave off.

He may not have a life like he used to, but whatever it was surely couldn't hold a candle to the happiness he felt here with the old man.

"Pa," there was an hmm from the black shadowed figure, who was illuminated by the flaring of the plant in his pipe. Naruto looked over to where the old man sat then back at the sky.

"Could I stay with you, and you teach me to be a Jack of trades? I don't know much, but I am eager to learn. You do seem lonely up here, and since I have no other place to go like you said, I would like to stay with you. If that's all right?"

The man smiled with his pipe in hand as he blew a smoke ring out of his puffed cheek, he looked up to the same stars the blonde was thinking of and nodded.

"That is nice thought, and yes you may stay with me as long as you like."


End file.
